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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
KJAN News can be heard at five minutes after every hour right after Fox News 24 hours a day!
Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
(Radio Iowa) – Congress is back in session after its summer recess and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says one of the top priorities is crafting another incarnation of the CARES Act to help businesses and individuals weather the continuing storm of coronavirus. Grassley says direct payments of up to 12-hundred dollars to nearly every American are again being discussed, as are a host of other elements designed to stimulate the economy. “Our four previous bills to help with the pandemic, we’ve been able to come to a bipartisan consensus,” Grassley says. “Each of those bills passed with overwhelming support and the biggest one passed unanimously, and I hope this one will be no different.”
The original Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was signed into law by President Trump on March 27th. It allotted a record two-point-two trillion dollars to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Grassley says there are many possibilities to consider for the next piece of legislation.”Leader McConnell wants liability protection to protect folks from frivolous lawsuits that are related to the virus,” Grassley says. “President Trump has listed a handful of options that he wants Congress to consider and at this point, we’re only in a discussion phase.”
Grassley says hammering out the details of the bill will likely take two to three weeks though it has to be before President Trump by August 7th. Grassley, a Republican, says there’s been much conversation already about another cash infusion where Uncle Sam would send checks directly to most Americans. “I think this is the one that gets the most economic impact if you’re thinking about stimulating the economy, putting money in people’s pockets,” Grassley says. “I’m not sure it’s going to be exactly $1,200 but it’s going to be a sizable amount of money if there is checks go out.”
The payment process would likely be set up much like the last time, he says, in order to expedite the checks. Otherwise, Grassley says, they may not arrive until after Christmas.
The Griswold School Board met Monday evening and spent a good portion of their time discussing the district’s Return-to-Learn plan. Griswold Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN News the Board came to a decision on how they will proceed, given the information they have at-hand.
The other option is to educate students on-site like a normal school year.
He said the Board discussed the process for trying to keep kids and staff safe, but a lot of the plan still depends on what the State Board of Education determines is necessary.
In other business, the Griswold School Board accepted the 2018-19 Audit report
And, the Board approved Dan Rold as Business Manager/Treasurer, and Board Secretary as Hannah Bierbaum, who started in June.
INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Leaders in the south-central Iowa city of Indianola have approved a measure to remove Native American imagery from its city logo, including from police cars, badges and patches. Television station KCCI reports that the Indianola City Council voted unanimously Monday to remove the depiction of a Native American chief in full feathered headdress. Council members say the logo will be removed immediately, but creating a new logo will take time and cost about $27,000.
The move comes as corporations and sports teams around the country face increasing pressure to dump nicknames and depictions that reference American Indians amid a nationwide movement calling for racial justice.
A Creston man was arrested Monday morning on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, and Possession of Paraphernalia. Creston Police report 27-year old Rogelio Olivera Martinez, was arrested at his home at around 10:30-a.m. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a Promise to Appear in court.
And, a little before 5-p.m., Monday, a Creston man reported to Police that sometime between July 10th and the 20th, someone stole the rear license plate off of his vehicle while it was parked on the 100 block of N. Elm St. The plate taken was issued by the State of Florida.
The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.
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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa College Aid reports a slight drop in the number of students filing the information that’s used to determine if they qualify for federal aid, state-funded grants, and scholarships provided by colleges and universities. Spokesperson Elizabeth Keest Sedrel says the filing rate for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA fell from 54 to 52 percent. “We’ve been working on pumping up the FAFSA filing numbers for several years — and we’ve been very successful — we’ve been seeing year-over-year increases,” according to Sedrel. “And, along about March when COVID really became a big issue in the United States, Iowa like all of the states in the country, really saw those rates start to dip.”
She says part of the issue could be the seniors have been at home and not in school. “When K-through-12 schools closed the physical campuses, high school seniors wouldn’t have had regular personal contact with their school counselors any longer. And a lot of times these school counselors are the ones who facilitate that filing for financial aid,” Sedrel says. She says it could also be due to uncertainty about what would happen with colleges. “We do think that there was in issue with students not being sure what was going to happen with schools in the fall,” she says. “A lot of the time period we are looking at here — physical campuses has closed for the remainder of that school year — but schools hadn’t yet announced their plans for the fall of 2020.”
Sedrel says the positive is Iowa hasn’t seen the drop that other states have. “It’s happened all across the country. Iowa has actually seen a smaller dip than most other states — so we don’t want to paint this out to be a dire situation,” Sedrel says. But we are going to have to offset the loses from this year as we do look to moving forward on these FAFSA numbers.” She says getting financial aid for students aligns with the Future Ready Iowa goal of having 70 percent of the workforce with education or training beyond high school by 2025. Sedrel says students and families can go online and file for FAFSA to find out how much aid is available.
(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A is seeking public comment on changes it claims will make it easier for rural communities to get loans for major projects. Four loan guarantee programs reassure banks they’ll be repaid when towns borrow for infrastructure. Johnathan Hladik, at the Center for Rural Affairs, says more banks might be willing to work with rural communities under the plan, but he says rural leaders should review it with a skeptical eye. “There’s every reason to think that this was something that was developed with banks in mind,” Hladik says. “So just to be sure, it’s going to be important for us to read that fine print and to make sure it’s a positive for those communities.”
The proposal would streamline the process and is intended to reduce red-tape, according to a U-S-D-A statement. That could entice more banks to participate. Hladik says the change might make things easier for towns, or it might make more money for large banks. He has a recommendation for community leaders considering the loan guarantee programs. “Take a look at what these regulations look like and what those restrictions look like because this cannot be something that is good for banks only, it’s got to be good for the community,” Hladik says.
Done right, he says, it could achieve the USDA’s stated goal of encouraging private investment in rural communities for efforts like rural water, waste water, energy and community-building projects. The public comment period goes through mid-September and the rule is slated to take effect October 1st.
(By Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)
The State of Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard (as of 11-a.m. today), shows there were six more deaths reported since Monday, and 513 new, confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The State’s death toll from the virus is up slightly, to 799, and the number of positive cases stands at 39,420. The IDPH says 423,223 Iowans have been tested. Of those, 382,357 have tested negative for COVID-19. Officials said also, 28,319 persons affected by the virus have recovered from it.
Hospitalization data show: two more people with COVID-19 were hospitalized, for a total of 223; 74 individuals are in an ICU (two less than Monday); 23 were admitted (up 2 from yesterday), and 32 were on a ventilator (2 more than Monday). In RMCC Region 4 (southwest/western IA), data show no change in the number of persons hospitalized, at eight. One less person was in an ICU (3 total), and one person each was admitted and on a ventilator.
Long-Term Care (LTC) data show 17 outbreaks (1 more than the past few days), 462 staff/patients have tested positive for the virus, 95 have recovered and 426 have died.
Here is the latest data for confirmed cases and the number of persons recovered from COVID-19, in Cass and surrounding counties, plus any change in the numbers:
(Radio Iowa) – Starting today (Tuesday), hospitals in Iowa’s largest metro area will again restrict visitors. Due to the steep rise in COVID-19 cases, especially in Polk and Dallas counties, the Des Moines metro area hospitals will stop allowing any visitors, with just a few exceptions, like if the patient is under 18, in maternity care, is suffering from delirium, or is imminently dying. The latest visitor ban covers Broadlawns, MercyOne Des Moines and West Des Moines Medical Centers and UnityPoint Health – Des Moines. Officials say they understand the restrictions may be difficult, but they’re in the best interest of hospitalized patients and staff.
Polk County Health Department spokesperson, Nola Aigner Davis says the county has not seen an increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations. But it has been averaging between 120 and 130 new confirmed cases daily. “When we see high cases like that, we want to put our most vulnerable populations, including our hospitalized individuals in the most safest conditions possible,” she says.
Davis says the county has seen cases increasing since late June. “We could peak higher than what we saw in May. So when we see numbers like that we know we have to protect our most vulnerable and those are patients that are hospitalized.” Hospital visitor restrictions were put in place statewide in March, and then eased in June as cases at the time were dropping.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year old Brandon Michael Johnson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday, on a valid warrant for Contempt of Court. Johnson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
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